The Order of Odd-Fish

Good book

This book is very difficult to describe. The word "wacky" wants to be used, but I'm scooting it aside with my shoe because it's not quite right. "Wacky" is a little distasteful, carrying with it a hint of "zany" and nobody likes zany, right? Or madcap? So let's say that this is. . . a carnival of odd. When Jo Larouche was a baby, she was found in the washing machine with a note pinned to her blanket that read, "This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a DANGEROUS baby." For 13 years, Jo has been about "as dangerous as milk," but at her Aunt Lily's annual costume ball, an adventure is kicked off that will unveil to Jo her true provenance, and the nature of the DANGER within her. Okay, if I had to give a one-line "elevator pitch," I suppose it would be something like that, but I'd have to follow it with something like, "The imagination, whimsy, and humor aren't like anything else you've read before." Truly. You know how it's better to watch a comedy with somebody, that somehow the humor is riper and deeper when shared? Well, the whole time I was reading this I wished I was reading it with someone, so I could elbow them at particularly bizarre moments, or chortle, or read passages aloud and savor them. I don't recall having that kind of reaction when reading a book before, at least, not so consistently. The adventure that Jo embarks upon with her Aunt Lily, a fat Russian named Colonel Korsakov, and a giant, vain cockroach butler named Sefino, carries them (in the belly of a fish) to Eldritch City, which is not exactly of our world. I love the word "eldritch" (I think I first fell in love with it when Kelly Link used it to describe an oddly upholstered couch), and to my mind Eldritch City joins the ranks of China Mieville's New Crobuzon and Scott Lynch's Camorr for mind-bendingly imaginative, sprawling weird cities. Only, it's less disgusting than New Crobuzon and Camorr -- but not entirely un-disgusting either. To make a complex story simple: Jo finds herself a squire to the knights of the Order of Odd-Fish, and she has to hide her true identity while seeking to thwart her hideous destiny, all this while riding flying, armored ostriches to fight duels, exploring ancient, drowned cathedrals buried deep beneath the city, drinking fermented centipede milk, fueding with other squires, sneaking around through secret passages, and soothing the oft-wounded vanity of a posse of cockroach butlers. Oy! And the villains! Ken Kiang, who has studiously shaped himself from a do-gooder philanthropist billionaire into the vilest (he thinks) of super-villains: "He devoured books about evil; he interviewed terrorists, serial murderes, and dictators; he dabbled in strange and wild diabolisms, slit the throats of shrieking beasts on stone altars in far-off lands, drank kitten blood, and sold his soul no fewer than twenty-thhee times to any supernatural being who cared to bid on it. No price was too low: the fifteenth time he sold his soul for a bag o

This was a terrific adventure. A "coming of age" story like no other I've read before. Mr. Kennedy does not hold back one bit when describing characters, places or events. And what great characters they are! There are the geriatric, ostrich-riding, sword-wielding Knights of the Odd-Fish, impeccably dressed, gossip-column obsessed cockroaches, a "Belgian Prankster" clad in smelly, old pelts and then there's Jo. Jo Larouche would seem to be your average thirteen year old. However, this average thirteen year old was labeled "dangerous" at birth! The story of Jo Larouche is exciting and bizarre with a dash of grotesque and hilarious. If you enjoy adventures, this is a must-read!

A delightfully absurd romp through a fantastic and bizarre world of cockroach butlers with a flair for fashion and knights that ride flying ostriches in pursuit of pointless quests. The book opens on 13 year old Jo Larouche, once labeled a "dangerous baby" and left in the care of her Aunt Lily, a mysterious ex Hollywood actress and vaudevillian. Jo is spying on her aunt's Christmas costume party, avoiding a suspicious Russian colonel and vainly attempting to save her aunt from herself. Soon the Colonel is shot by a hedgehog who is subsequently knocked unconscious by a package falling from the sky and addressed to Jo, from the Order of Odd-fish. The situation only degrades from there as Jo, her Aunt Lily, the Colonel, and a self-obsessed, three-foot tall, talking cockroach flee from forces apparently obsessed with their destruction to Eldritch City, where Jo finds herself in the midst of a colorful cast of characters and at the center of an ancient plot and prophesy foretelling the end of the world. With a world that is at once whimsical and familiar, wondrous and disturbing, beautifully yet sometimes gut-wrenchingly, horribly, and disgustingly detailed, this is one of those books that has something for everybody. It's filed in the young adult section and contains nothing inappropriate for young minds, yet still provides enough fodder that even the discriminating mature fan of fantasy will find it hard to put the book down. Truly a masterful first novel for author James Kennedy, and I am left eagerly anticipating his next book. Reminiscent at times of Douglas Adams and at others Neil Gaiman, yet wholly original and with a depth of character and story that leaves the reader wishing fervently that the great god Aznath, Silver Kitten of Deceit, will spy our intrepid heroes from wherever he may perch, deign to pounce on their enemies, and save the day.

There are some books that are so great that you want to become an apostle for them, running around shoving copies into everyone's hands and forcing them to read it right then and there just so they can experience its pure awesomeness. The last book that made me feel like that was Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and I made quite a few converts with my enthusiasm. "The Order of Odd Fish" is one of those books. It has exactly what I need, the right balance of the bizarre and the horrible, of kitsch and cool, of fantasy and the fantastic. It is James and the Giant Peach as directed by Terry Gilliam, with hints of H.P. Lovecraft lurking around its darker corners. The story begins with Jo Larouche, a "dangerous baby" who has been left in the care of her Aunt Lily, an 82-year old former actress who has retired with less-than-dignity in her Ruby Palace, a place of extravagant and wild costume parties and excess of every kind. Because this is a young fiction fantasy novel, we know that her world will soon be blown wide open, that the veil will be parted between the world Jo knows and the secret wonderland that she is inheritor to. The adventure begins with the arrival of Colonel Korsakov, a giant Russian who speaks to his own digestion, Sefino, a three-foot tall cockroach of flamboyant style with an impeccable ascot, and a mysterious black box with a silver handle that should never be turned. Don't be fooled into thinking you know what happens next. While many books in this genre, such as Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, follow roughly the same opening scene with an orphan and a magical object, "The Order of Odd Fish" goes straight for the surreal, and nothing turns out as expected. I could tell you about the characters, like the Belgian Prankster, a supernatural creature of nightmare dressed in green goggles and a rawhide diaper, or Ken Kiang, the Chinese millionaire who has dedicated his life to being the most evil man alive, or the dreaded Ichthala, the All-Devouring Mother who lurks and the threshold of a dark prophesy and is tended only by the Silent Sisters, a cult of veiled women bound in sadness, but it would be a shame to give away too much of the story. Much of the fun of "The Order of Odd Fish" comes from the excitement of being disorientated. It is like riding on one of those spinning rides at an amusement park where just when you think you are about to be smashed into a wall the track sends you careening in a random direction leaving you unbalanced and fully entertained. One note: While this is classified as a children's book, and is perfectly age appropriate so no parents have to worry, like the best of that classification it is a good time for anyone who enjoys a great fantasy. Highly recommended.

Jo Larouche has always been ordinary - or as ordinary as you can be when you live in a ruby palace with a highly eccentric retired movie star for an aunt. Though she was found in her aunt Lily's laundry room with a note detailing her as a dangerous baby, Jo has been for all of her thirteen years just about as dangerous as a glass of milk. Things begin to change when strange events at Lily's Christmas party contrive to send Jo and Lily out of California and into a fantastical land called Eldritch City, where they are taken in by the Order of Odd-Fish, an eclectic collection of knights devoted entirely to the research of useless information. But that's just the beginning, for as Jo finds a new place for herself in Eldritch City, she also becomes entangled in a dangerous game with the Belgian Prankster, a villain who appears to be seeking the downfall of the city Jo has begun to call home. A rollicking adventure for all ages, THE ORDER OF ODD-FISH has something for every lover of all things ridiculous. From obtuse and elaborate dueling rituals to cockroach butlers obsessed with seeking fame to a villain so sinister he can even make balloon animals terrifying, James Kennedy piles on oddities so fast that you can't help but dive in, and enjoy the stay. Reviewed by: Rebecca Wells